


The Play's The Thing

by orphan_account



Category: Castle
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-18
Updated: 2012-03-18
Packaged: 2017-11-02 03:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/364523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>It's a murder mystery, Katie.  I'm just not sure you'd like it."</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Play's The Thing

**Author's Note:**

> For Big Bang at Castleland on LiveJournal.

“Oh, darling, thank you so much for coming.”  Beckett was greeted at the door of Martha’s studio and acting school by the actress herself.    
  
“Ryan and Esposito will swing by a bit later.”  She allowed Martha to pull her up the steps and through the double doors.  “They’ve got to finish their paperwork but they promised to be here before the show starts.”    
  
Martha clapped her hands in delight.  “Excellent.  It’ll be so nice to see some familiar faces in the audience.  You’d think I could rely on my family for moral support in the first real showcase of my students’ talents, but no.”  She sighed in a put-upon manner.  “They’ve abandoned me in my time of need.  Again.”    
  
“Is Alexis okay?”  Castle’s much-postponed book tour of the West Coast was hardly an abandonment but Kate had assumed his daughter would be supporting her grandmother.     
  
“Oh, she’s fine.  She had to see a boy about a book, or some such excuse.  Well?”  Martha twirled once, encompassing the small foyer with a wave of her hands.  “What do you think?”    
  
She didn’t give Kate a chance to respond (fortunately, as there was little to be said for the tiny space), taking her arm and pulling her through the next set of double doors.  “There isn’t really time for the full grand tour -- I have to be available for my students to calm any pre-show nerves -- but you’ll see the highlights while you wait.”  Martha began to climb a very steep, narrow staircase.  “I’m especially glad you came tonight, Kate.  After all, it’s thanks to you that this is all here.  This place wouldn’t exist without you.”    
  
Kate was busy watching her feet on the endless stairs and wishing she’d worn flats.  “I’m sure you’d have come up with it eventually.”    
  
“Oh, but the timing was crucial.  Do you know how lucky I was to get this space?  A week, a  _day_ later and I’d have missed it.”    
  
Kate was positive there were other perfectly good studio spaces in the city.  Possibly even ones on lower floors.  They reached another landing and rounded another corner.  Did the stairs never end?    
  
Martha wasn’t even short of breath.  “Everything about this place is perfect.  I have two studio spaces, a little office, a couple of small work rooms and a changing area, all connected by this.”    
  
They were finally at the top of the stairs, emerging onto a larger landing on what must have been the top floor of the building.  Kate would have sighed in relief if she had any breath to spare.    
  
“This is my personal hall of fame.”  Martha nodded at the long corridor ahead of them.    
  
A few people milled about, sipping from champagne glasses and nibbling canapés as they talked and looked at the posters and photographs on the walls.    
  
Martha propelled Kate forward again, smiling at anyone who met her gaze.  “Only the milestones, of course, but enough to give my students an idea of what they should be aiming for.  Richard calls it my boasting corridor, but that comes from a man whose apartment is practically wallpapered with his own book covers.”    
  
Kate couldn’t help smiling fondly.  She could imagine the argument between mother and son on that point.  He’d been gone for four weeks now and she was missing him, despite the frequent texts and emails he sent daily.    
  
A young man poked his head out of one of the doorways and attracted Martha’s attention.    
  
“Oh.”  She sighed.  “Excuse me for a second.”    
  
Kate bypassed a table holding more champagne glasses and wandered slowly along the corridor, taking in the ‘milestones’.  One wall displayed photographs of Martha through the years of her acting career.  Portfolio shots were interspersed with publicity images for the TV shows and movies that she’d featured in.  After spending longer than she’d intended studying a small set of _Temptation Lane_ photos Kate turned her attention to what really interested her.    
  
The other wall of Martha’s hallway was lined with framed theatre posters, presumably from the roles she was most proud of.  Kate wandered along the corridor glancing from poster to poster, seeing a mixture of plays she knew well and plays she’d never even heard of.  There was an incredible variety, from Broadway shows to tiny little studio productions, and everything in between.  Whatever the true success of Martha’s career, it had certainly been varied.    
  
The posters appeared to be arranged chronologically which helped Beckett locate the particular poster she was seeking.  She hadn’t been sure it would be there.  For all Kate knew it could have been simply a small step on Martha’s career ladder.  She was relieved when she found the familiar blue poster somewhere beyond the halfway point.    
  
“Ah, a classic.”  Martha had reappeared at her shoulder, crisis apparently averted.    
  
“It’s probably my favourite play.”  There was no harm in confessing that much.    
  
“I can see why it would appeal to you.  I was part of that production for a year and I’ve never understood that ending.”    
  
“You mean-”    
  
“Shh!”  Martha glanced around furtively.  “Don’t mention the twist.  Do you want the Dame herself to come back and haunt you?”    
  
“Seriously?”    
  
“Well.”  Martha shrugged lightly.  “It’s not quite on a par with naming the Scottish play, but in this studio we respect the Queen of Crime.  One has to, with a son like Richard.”  Martha raised a hand to her chest.  “Do you know what happened when Wikipedia revealed the ending?  They aren’t even allowed to publish the book in the UK.”  
  
Kate laughed.  “Okay, I get it.”    
  
“I need to get back to my supervisory duties.”  Martha smiled apologetically.  “Keep browsing, have a drink and make yourself at home.  There’ll be a call when it’s time to take your seat in the studio.”    
  
Kate was barely aware of Martha’s departure, lost again in the deep blue of the poster.    
  
\--  
  
 ** _London, England, 1990_**  
  
“ _It’s a murder mystery, Katie.  I’m just not sure you’d like it.  Wouldn’t you rather see a musical?”_ _  
  
Katie clutched the blue flyer protectively.  “But the man said I’d love it.”_ _  
  
“He probably says that to everyone, honey.  It’s his sales pitch.”  Johanna shuffled the other flyers they’d been handed while strolling through Covent Garden, showing a bright pink one to her daughter.  “Look, I think you’d love this one.”_ _  
  
Katie looked at her own flyer again.  “Please, mom?”_ _  
  
Johanna bit her lip for a moment, studying her daughter, then sighed softly.  “Very well then.”  She pulled the map from her pocket.  Let’s find St Martin’s Theatre.”_ _  
  
\--_ _  
  
After tucking her precious flyer safely behind the front cover of the programme, Katie began to flick through the pages.  She read the synopsis and the historical information about the record-breaking play and its author.  While the words were interesting, it was the cast photographs that held her attention for the longest.  She was fascinated by the images of the actors, all artful poses and soulful looks in stark blacks and whites and softened greys._ _  
  
Johanna leaned over her shoulder.  “Oh, look.”  She rested a finger on the page.  “That’s Martha Rodgers.  She was in_ Temptation Lane _.”  She nudged her daughter.  
  
Katie smiled at the mention of their guilty pleasure.  “I don’t remember her.”  _ _  
  
“You wouldn’t, honey, it was before you were born.  She married Joseph Fox and then got kidnapped and trapped in a Paris sewer.  Or was it the other way around?  There was this great scene with a bear...”_ _  
  
As her mother continued reciting_ Temptation Lane _plotlines Katie studied the black and white photo.  Martha Rodgers stared up from the page with large, serious eyes, head propped on one elegant hand.  She was beautiful._ _  
  
Then lights dimmed and the play began._ _  
  
Katie found herself absorbed in the plot, desperate to know exactly what had happened.  She was determined to identify the murderer and she tried to calculate how everything was linked, even as she was distracted and enthralled by the character played by Martha Rodgers.  The woman owned the stage, eclipsing all the other actors with her presence.  At least, that was how it seemed to Katie._ _  
  
She blinked in surprised when the house lights came up for the intermission.  The time had flown by._ _  
  
“Well, what do you think?”  Johanna slid back into her seat and handed Katie a tub of ice cream._ _  
  
“It’s so good, Mom.”  She pulled off the lid and dug in with the tiny wooden spoon._ _  
  
“Are you just saying that to prove me wrong?”  Johanna frowned but Katie could tell she was trying not to smile._ _  
  
“No.”  Katie giggled.  “I really like it!”_ _  
  
Johanna leaned in to whisper conspiratorially.  “So who do you think the killer is?”_ _  
  
“I don’t know.”  Katie matched her mother’s tone.  “I mean, I have a theory, but...”_ _  
  
“You don’t want to say in case you’re wrong?”_ _  
  
“We don’t have all the information yet.  It’s too soon to be sure.”  She shook her head in frustration and turned back to her ice cream._ _  
  
“Make sure you eat at all of that.”  Johanna glanced down at her own ice cream.  “The prices here are extortionate.”_ _  
  
The rest of the play passed as quickly as the first half.  When the lights lifted after the curtain calls people began standing and leaving the theatre._ _  
  
“Come on, hold my hand so we don’t get separated.”  Johanna led Katie from their row and into the flood of people pouring down the stairs._ _  
  
They emerged into the damp London night.  It wasn’t raining but the air was heavy and the ground was slightly wet from an earlier shower._ _  
  
Johanna glanced at the sky.  “Shall we brave the Tube?”_ _  
  
“Yes!”  Katie bounced on her feet.  She loved the London Underground.  She loved the tiled tunnels and the colours that represented the fascinatingly named lines and stations.  Much more exciting than the numbers and letters of the Metro back home.  Her father always insisted that they take a taxi in London, but her mother was much more willing to try to navigate the unfamiliar transport system._ _  
  
“Okay, I think it’s up this way.”  Johanna led them up a side street alongside the theatre._ _  
  
Katie spotted a small sign beside a nondescript door and tugged on her mother’s hand to get her to stop.  Thoughts of the Underground slipped from her head and she grasped her programme tightly._ _  
  
“Mom, can we?  Please?”_ _  
  
Johanna glanced at the stage door.  “Your father is expecting us back at the hotel.”_ _  
  
“He said he wouldn’t be back till really late.  Please?”_ _  
  
“Fine, fine.”  Johanna sighed, but Katie could tell that she wasn’t really annoyed._ _  
  
They stood under a nearby awning for a while with a few other people, waiting for any cast members to emerge._ _  
  
“You do realise that it’s possible they won’t come out this way?”  Johanna was looking at her watch._ _  
  
“But they might.”  Katie stared stubbornly at the door.  “We should wait a bit longer.  Please, mom.”_ _  
  
Finally the door creaked opened and laughter spilled out into the night.  A woman stood in the doorway, her silhouette highlighted by the light from within the theatre.  She moved aside, stepping out to greet the people who were waiting.  She was dressed elegantly and moved with grace and ease._ _  
  
Katie didn’t even see the rest of the cast emerging.  Her eyes were fixed on the woman at the front of the group as Martha Rodgers chatted and signed programmes.  The other cast members filed past slowly but Katie was barely aware of them signing her programme and moving on._ _  
  
Martha Rodgers’ hair was flaming red and her eyes...  Katie had never seen anyone with eyes quite like that.  She blinked when Ms Rodgers was suddenly standing before her and those pale blue eyes were smiling down kindly._ _  
  
“Hello, darling.”  Ms Rodgers took the programme from Katie’s suddenly slack hand._ _  
  
“Hi.”  Katie found herself tongue-tied, unable to look away._ _  
  
Everyone else had left by now, leaving Katie and her mother alone with the actress._ _  
  
Ms Rodgers handed back the programme with another friendly smile.  “So, do you like mysteries?”_ _  
  
“This is my first.”  Her mouth was dry and Katie swallowed._ _  
  
“Your first, huh?  How did you like it?”  Those blue eyes sparkled.  “Did it draw you in?”  Her hands waved to punctuate her speech.  “Enthrall you?”_ _  
  
“Uh-huh.”  Katie was still reticent._ _  
  
“Great!  Then you’re now officially a mystery fan.”  She leaned down a little.  “Agatha Christie is a great starting point.”  She glanced up at Johanna and mouthed ‘not too violent or gory’._ _  
  
Katie suppressed a giggle._ _  
  
“Do you like to read?”_ _  
  
“Yes.”_ _  
  
“She’s always got her nose in a book.”  Johanna added helpfully._ _  
  
“Oh, then the Queen of Crime is definitely for you.  She wrote_ thousands _of books.  They’ll keep you occupied for_ _ hours .”    
  
Katie wasn’t sure she’d remember much about this conversation, apart from Ms Rodgers amazing eyes and those slim, elegant hands that waved every time she made a point.  Katie reached out blindly and patted her mother’s side.  “Mom, can you write that down?”  _ _  
  
“Here.  Let me give you a few recommendations.”  Ms Rodgers took back Katie’s programme and opened it to the back page where there was an advertisement for an acting school.  She scribbled a few lines in the white space at the side.  “If you ever get the chance, go to see_ And Then There Were None _.  Read the book, too, of course, but I bet you’d love the staged version.  So much drama and tension!”  
  
“Are you a fan of mysteries?”  Katie had finally overcome her shyness enough to ask a question.  _ _  
  
“Oh, no, not personally.  My son was obsessed with them growing up though, so I know more than I should about the subject.”  She winked at Johanna.  “The things we do for our children, right?”  She smiled down at Katie again.  “I do love the drama though, and the buildup to the denouement.  Appeals to my dramatic nature.”  She winked as she handed back the programme again._ _  
  
Katie marvelled that the woman could express so much with just her face._ _  
  
Glancing up, Ms Rodgers seemed to realise that they were the last ones left.  “Oh, dear, I’d better get going, I’ve kept you long enough.”  She turned back, encompassing Katie and her mother in her gaze.  “It was lovely meeting you both.”_ _  
  
“Thank you for the book recommendations.”_ _  
  
“You’re welcome, darling.”  Martha Rodgers brushed a hand against Katie’s hair, smiled at Johanna, and then swept off down the street in a whirl of fur._ _  
  
Katie Beckett watched with starry eyes._  
  
\--  
  
 _ **New York, the present**_  
  
Beckett opened her front door to find Castle and his mother standing outside.  Martha greeted her with an exuberant hug while Castle grinned at her as he struggled to maneuver a large frame through the door.    
  
“We brought you something.”  Martha immediately moved through to the living area, leaving Castle to turn the frame so that Kate could see.    
  
“ _The Mousetrap_.”  She smiled at the sight of the blue poster.  “But what-”    
  
“It’s a gift, dear, so don’t even think of saying no.”  Martha’s voice drifted back from the living area.    
  
Castle was watching her with a fond smile on his face.  “I told her it wouldn’t go with your decor.”    
  
She laughed.  “You haven’t seen my bedroom yet, have you?”    
  
His eyes crinkled at the corners and she didn’t even try to suppress her answering grin.    
  
“Welcome back, Castle.”    
  
“I missed you.”    
  
The blatant honesty in his gaze and his words took her breath away.    
  
It deserved as honest an answer.  “You know what?  I missed you too.”    
  
“Richard.”  Martha’s voice interrupted them again.  “Stop standing around and make yourself useful.  Put that picture up somewhere.”    
  
“Yes, mother.”  He rolled his eyes before turning back to her.  “I’m at your disposal, Detective.  Tell me where you want me.”    
  
There was a moment of silence, then they both snorted with laughter.    
  
She shook her head at the sheepish expression on his face.  She really had missed him, stupid innuendo and all.  “Are you sure you don’t mind?”    
  
“Are you sure you want this thing on your wall?”    
  
She slapped his arm lightly before pulling the tool box from the hall closet. Removing a box of picture hooks and a hammer she took a deep breath and turned back to Castle.  “Come on.”    
  
She led him into her bedroom.    
  
While her living space was meticulously decorated, with everything thought out carefully, her bedroom was more casual and less organised.  There was very little in the way of decoration, but the poster would fit in perfectly.    
  
“Where shall we put it?”  She took some hooks from the box and studied the room, hands on hips, trying not to think too much about Castle standing in her most personal space.    
  
Martha appeared in the doorway.  “Kate, darling, Richard can put up the picture while you and I have a chat.”    
  
“Oh, no, it’s fine.”    
  
“Nonsense.”    
  
Two Castles (a Castle and a Rodgers really, but it was the same thing) stared at her with matching expressions until she relented.    
  
“If you’re sure you don’t mind, Castle.”    
  
“Just tell me where to put it.”    
  
She lifted her eyebrows teasingly.  “On the wall.”    
  
“Where on the wall?”    
  
She bit her lip for a moment, then released it.  “You choose.”    
  
“Are you sure you trust me?”  His expression was serious again.    
  
To choose a space for the poster or to be left alone in her bedroom?  She wasn’t sure which he was asking.  Maybe it was both.  It didn’t matter.  She trusted him either way.    
  
They stared at each other for a few moments, until Martha shuffled her feet, reminding them of her presence in the doorway.    
  
“Put it wherever you think it fits.”    
  
Martha hooked an arm through Kate’s and led her back out into the living area.  It was strange how at home the actress appeared, even though she’d never been in Kate’s apartment before.    
  
Kate allowed herself to be led to the couch where Martha perched beside her.    
  
“Right, now that he’s out of the way, I can give you your real gift.”  Martha lifted her purse.    
  
“Sorry?”    
  
“You stood and stared at that poster for a good fifteen minutes.  I don’t know exactly what  _Mousetrap_ means to you, but I know that it’s important.  So I got you something.”    
  
“Martha-”  
  
“Oh, hush, it’s nothing.  Just open it.”  For a moment she looked as childishly excited as her son so often did, anticipation and glee on her face as she watched Kate open the flap of the envelope.    
  
A booklet and two tickets fell into Kate’s lap.    
  
Martha held up a hand to forestall anymore protestations.  “Before you say anything, they were given to me, as part of the anniversary celebrations.  All former cast members were offered complimentary tickets for one of the performances this year.  I want you to come with me, Kate.”    
  
Kate picked up the booklet and stroked a hand across the cover.  The number 60, embellished with sparkling diamonds, was superimposed over the familiar blue image of the house on the hill.  The same image that Castle was currently hanging on her bedroom wall.    
  
“Sixty is a big thing in the UK right now.  The whole country is  mad  for diamond celebrations, what with Queen Elizabeth’s sixty year reign.  And of course,  Mousetrap has been running for just as long.”    
  
Kate blinked at the tickets.  The date was about a month away.  “But it’s London.”    
  
“Meredith took Alexis to Paris for lunch once.”  Martha pulled a face at the mention of her former daughter-in-law.  “While I can’t stand the woman, I am envious of her ability to be spontaneous and hop across the pond at a moment’s notice.  But I know that’s not something you’re free to do.  You have a job and responsibilities.  If the date isn’t convenient I can swap the tickets for any other performance during the sixtieth year.  I’m a free agent, despite the school, so it’s entirely up to you.”  Her blue eyes stared at Kate imploringly.  “Take a holiday.  Lord knows, you deserve one.  Book some vacation time and enjoy yourself.”  Martha waggled her eyebrows, looking significantly at the doorway to Kate’s bedroom where they could hear the soft hammering of Castle hanging the picture.  For an actress, she was being less than subtle.  “I can always get another ticket if need be.”    
  
Kate looked down at the tickets again.  She could certainly do with a vacation.  She could afford a trip to the UK, so it wasn’t like Martha was actually giving her an entire holiday.  The date was even just far enough away that she could probably get the time off and make the arrangements, if she spoke to Gates straight away.  And as for Martha’s other suggestion...  
  
“Could you get another ticket for this performance?”    
  
“Of course.”  Martha beamed, clasping her hands together excitedly.    
  
“Thank you.”    
  
“Don’t mention it.”  Martha sat back on the couch and tilted her head, studying Kate intently.    
  
The feeling was very similar to all the times Castle had worked to extract personal information from her.  Not that she made him work very hard for that anymore.  She had no reason to withhold the whole of the story from Martha, especially in light of this gift.    
  
It was _ Temptation Lane_, all over again.    
  
She looked up at the ceiling and smiled.  “It was my first real exposure to murder mysteries.  I was about ten years old and my parents took me to London for a week.  My mom and I had a night at the theatre while my dad was visiting some old friends.  My mom wanted to take me to a musical, but I had a flyer for  _The_ _Mousetrap_ , and I insisted.  I can’t remember why I was so sure it was the show I wanted to see, but mom caved and said we could go.  I loved it.”    
  
She shook her head, remembering that night, watching the story unfold on the stage, the list of suspects growing.  And that twist at the end...  “I mean, it introduced me to Agatha Christie and probably sparked my entire obsession with mystery novels.  Throughout my teen years I devoured anything mystery-related.  And when I hit my twenties, well.”  She shrugged.  “It was the one constant in my life, and it stayed that way when everything else went wrong.”    
  
“Oh.  Darling.”  Martha’s hand landed on Kate’s knee and squeezed gently.    
  
Kate laid her own hand over Martha’s and squeezed.  She wouldn’t, couldn’t tell the actress about their encounter during her childhood, and how the Martha had prompted her onto the mystery novel path.  Indirectly, she supposed, it was Martha who had pushed Kate towards Castle’s books.  It was almost poetic that the same woman was now pushing Kate towards the man himself.    
  
The moment was interrupted when Castle emerged from the bedroom, wiping his brow with a hand and flopping into a seat opposite them.  “Whew, all done.”    
  
“Thanks, Castle.”  She smiled at him, releasing his mother’s hand.    
  
“So.”  He looked back and fore between the two women.  “What have I missed?”  He could have been talking about the fifteen minutes it took him to hang the picture, or the two months that he’d been absent for his book tour.    
  
It didn’t matter.    
  
Kate schooled her expression into something serious.  “Your mom and I are going to London.”    
  
He didn’t need to know that it wasn’t right this minute, that it would be at some point in the future, and that he would in all likelihood be coming too.  She relaxed back into her couch and enjoyed the opportunity to tease him.    
  
His eyebrows shot towards his hairline.  “London, Ontario?”  He asked hopefully.    
  
Martha threw her head back and laughed.    
  
 **End**

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Hamlet, as is the title of _The Mousetrap_ , incidentally. Martha mentions _The Mousetrap_ in the very first episode of _Castle_. I have no idea if she’s actually referring to the London production, but I’ve slipped her into the 1990s cast. I’m not completely sure I’m describing the right version of the poster, but the blue one is my favourite. So there. 
> 
>  
> 
> _“That makes about as much sense as Mousetrap. I did that play eight times a week for a year. I still have no idea what it’s about.” Martha Rodgers, Flowers For Your Grave (1x01)._


End file.
